By KEITH WHITMIRE
FOXSportsSouthwest.com
March 1, 2011
Nine innings in baseball. Nine big issues facing the Texas Rangers heading into the 2011 season.
1. Rotation, rotation, rotation
Two pitchers who had a lot to prove in 2010 are now at the front of the Rangers' rotation. C.J. Wilson made the conversion from reliever to starter, and Colby Lewis lived up to the promise he showed during a stint in Japan.
The Rangers will likely need a couple more pitchers to prove themselves in 2011 to have a rotation that can get them to the playoffs. Brandon Webb is one of them, but more on him later. One or more pitchers from a pool that includes Derek Holland, Michael Kirkman, David Bush, Neftali Feliz and others will have to fill out the rest of the rotation along with dependable Tommy Hunter.
For a team that is favored to win the AL West again, the Rangers have a lot of uncertainty in the starting rotation.
2. Young and the restless fans
For now, Michael Young has put aside his public beef with general manager Jon Daniels that led to him requesting a trade. So far it has been business as usual in spring training, which has given hope to the idea that Young will eventually let bygones be bygones and learn to live with the situation.
But what if the Rangers get off to a bad start? And what if Young is in a horrible slump during that start? Eventually, fan sentiment could turn sharply against Young, whose unhappiness could be viewed as a reason for a lack of team harmony.
Young has vowed not to be a distraction, and he's lived up to that pledge through his actions. But as long as the issue is still lingering, it's a potential wedge that can be driven through the team. The sooner the issue is resolved, either by a trade or by Young revoking his trade request, the less damage can be done.
3. Tangled Webb
It's not overstating things to say Brandon Webb could be the key to the season. He won a Cy Young in 2006, and if he's anything like that this season, the Rangers won't need to trade for a Cliff Lee type at the trade deadline.
That's a huge "if" right now because of Webb's arm troubles. He hasn't pitched since Opening Day in 2009. That's two years off. Then he showed up to spring training in Surprise, Ariz. and clearly wasn't ready to pitch.
He's backed off his projections of starting the season in the rotation. No one knows for sure when Webb will be able to pitch in a game. And even when his arm gets back into shape, there's no guarantee how effective he will be after injury and a long layoff.
In short, the Rangers don't know what they have in Webb. It could be something special, or it could be a major disappointment.
4. Keep the doctor away
The Rangers' biggest hitters are their most injury-prone players.
Josh Hamilton keeps crashing into walls. Nelson Cruz keeps pulling hamstrings and tweaking other body parts. With Ian Kinsler, it's something new every year: a twisted ankle here, a pulled groin there . . .
Injuries have turned a potent lineup into an impotent one for stretches at a time. If the Rangers can keep players like Hamilton, Cruz and Kinsler upright for an entire season, it will show up in the win-loss column.
5. A shot for Borbon
Something that could keep Hamilton healthy is if Julio Borbon can hold on to the center field job.
Hamilton is a natural center fielder, but the prevailing theory is he is less likely to chase fly balls into the wall by playing left field. (Someone should tell former Ranger Rusty Greer, who played a lot of left field and still managed to get banged up.)
For Hamilton to stay in left, Borbon has to lock down the center field job handed to him in spring training. That means Borbon will have to make a lot of progress in the field and at the plate.
Borbon has the wheels to chase down fly balls in the expansive center field in Arlington, but he hasn't shown the arm to make plays once he makes the catch.
As a hitter, Borbon has a lot to learn about getting on base. And given his speed, his success rate as a base stealer has to improve.
But this is just the second full season in the majors for the 25-year-old Borbon. He has a lot of upside that, if he lives up to it, can lift the team, too.
6. Will Feliz make a nifty starter?
The Rangers found their closer last year in Neftali Feliz. They may have to find another one if Feliz gets his wish of becoming a starter.
It's hard to mess with a good thing. Feliz saved 40 games in 2010 and won AL Rookie of the Year. But front-of-the-rotation starters are even harder to find than reliable closers (and are paid better than closers).
If the experiment works, Feliz gives the Rangers a potential ace. It's just a matter of whether his secondary pitches can improve enough to go along with his overpowering fastball.
If it doesn't work, it could backfire. The extensive work necessary to get his arm in shape to pitch seven-plus innings may not coincide with the work a closer needs to get ready. In other words, it could screw him up.
Frankie Francisco is no longer around as an insurance policy. If Feliz doesn't show he can be one of the Rangers' top starters, he will go back to the bullpen. Giving up a surefire closer for a fourth or fifth starter is not an even trade.
7. Beltre needs to keep beltin'
The Rangers invested more than just a huge contract in new third baseman Adrian Beltre. They displaced Michael Young, the "face of the franchise" to make room for Beltre at third. That eventually led to Young becoming upset and requesting a trade.
Beltre has a reputation for playing his best in contract years. He can't live up to that stereotype.
If Beltre doesn't prove worthy of all the trouble the Rangers have gone to, it's not going to be a fun summer in Arlington.
8. Can Bosley make angels of Rangers hitters?
In 2010 the Rangers and their fans learned that there is life after Rudy, as in Rudy Jaramillo, the former longtime hitting coach. Clint Hurdle arrived last season and had great success cutting down on strikeouts and emphasizing situational hitting.
Hurdle left in the off-season to become the Pirates' manager. Enter Thad Bosley, who was buddies with Rangers manager Ron Washington when they were coaches in Oakland.
There are a couple of red flags about the Bosley hire. First, he hasn't worked in the majors since he was fired as Oakland's hitting coach in May 2003. He was coaching at a small college when the Rangers hired him.
Second, the few quotes we've seen from Bosley are about how he wants to make the Rangers more aggressive at the plate. Uh oh. While the Yankees and Red Sox are working pitchers and winning World Series rings, Bosley wants the Rangers to swing at anything close?
It's much more complicated than that. The Rangers aren't likely to regress to the free-swinging, home-run reliant group Washington inherited several years ago. But how Bosley imparts his philosophy does bear watching.
9. More Moreland at first
One of the highlights of the 2010 postseason was watching rookie first baseman Mitch Moreland perform like a veteran. He never seemed in awe of the big stage, never showed any signs of nerves.
All Moreland did was hit, including the Rangers' biggest hit of the World Series, a three-run homer in their only win. And he handled everything defensively at first.
It's not that Moreland made it look easy. Only phenoms do that. But he made it look simple.
Moreland has been given a chance to prove he can handle the job full-time this season. There will be a new set of pressures starting the year as a known quantity.
If Moreland struggles, there's always Michael Young (for now) and Mike Napoli to back him up, maybe even a resurgent Chris Davis.
And if Moreland can handle the job, it gives the Rangers some stability at first base for the first time since Mark Teixeira wore a Texas uniform.
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
